Tag Archives: Julie Taymor

A diva is a celebrated female singer; a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and by extension in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of prima donna.

The word entered the English language in the late 19th century. It is derived from the Italian noun diva, a female deity. The basic sense of the term is goddess.

(My definition includes actors, playwrights, novelists and any form of artistic expression.)

Opening night delayed again, for a full month, top earner in previews this week, it is not a “Carrie-esque” flop, perhaps the “Titanic” of the musical theater, as in, remember the doomsayers who predicted James Cameron’s film “Titanic” was going to be the biggest movie flop ever, yet became the biggest hit of its time!

The broken limbs, free falls ending in the hospital, replacement leading lady hit by a flying cable….oh the marketing dream! Disaster pays!

Believe me, a flood sells a million newspapers and TV coverage.

A disastrous Broadway musical, possible flop, then possible hit, has me on the edge of my seat, hoping Spiderman lands at my feet or crashes on my face and I am the centre of attention in the papers, believe me the audience are there to see the results, good or bad.

Will be interesting if, when it opens, and it is in shape, and the doomsayers drop off, and then it flops…..we will have to wait to see the outcome…..

All for a comic book creation (not!), the mind boggles. – well at least mine does 🙂

Don’t get me wrong, I am not hoping for disaster, actually, I adore Julie Taymor’s visionary approach to everything, I want it to be a hit. Not that I care for the Spidey character, I just wanna see the visuals I know Julie can create, and if it is a success we can witness more of her visionary brilliance.

I am also interested in the new Spiderman movie reboot….Andrew Garfield, nominated for a Golden Globe for the brilliant “The Social Network” is the new Peter Parker, and he can pick my pecker (not pickled – unlike me! ) anytime. So for someone not interested in the Spidey it is very annoying that interesting people are involved in Spidey projects across all mediums.

Tomorrow morning I should wake up to the announcement of the nominations for the Art Directors Guild Of America’s annual awards for excellence in production design.

Unlike the Oscars where all designs are bunched in together, the ADG have 3 separate categories for film.

Contemporary, Period & Fantasy.

Last years winners were –

Contemporary – THE HURT LOCKER

Period – SHERLOCK HOLMES

Fantasy – AVATAR

Will be interesting to see what films are nominated this year. I expect “Alice In Wonderland” and “Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows” to appear in the fantasy category. Contemporary – “Black Swan” & “Social Network” maybe? Period – “King’s Speech”. I would like to see my fave designer of the moment Mark Friedberg get a nomination for Julie Taymor’s film of “The Tempest” and I hope that Dante Ferretti is recognised for his superb designs on “Shutter Island”.

They also nominate TV design, hopefully “True Blood” will get a nomination, I expect “Mad Men” will too, and “The Pacific” of course, good luck to the Aussie’s involved who have already won an Emmy.

Will let you know my honest opinion when the nominations are announced.

Another actor has been sent to the hospital due to an injury, disrupting another preview performance of the mega-budget musical”Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark”. The show was halted 7 minutes before the finale because an actor (stuntman not star) in a Spidey costume fell off a platform into the pit. I so wish I was seeing these previews, it would be like watching a bullfight! What happened after the fall? If you had paid to see the show, how would you know how it ended? Did director Julie Taymor send a gift pack to the hospital? Was Nurse Jackie in attendance? Note to writers of Nurse Jackie – cross promote, add a plotline into the new season – what a hoot that would be.

Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark begins public performances tomorrow (Sunday in NYC). And I am very interested to see what this musical will be. I certainly will be scouring the vicious theatre blogs to see what the word is – knives will be out that’s for sure – they have already been sharpening! A show of this scale is bound to face huge criticism and curiosity.

Photo by Annie Leibovitch for Vogue

After a troubled technical period in which a couple of the performers during demonstrations of the shows flying sequences incurred injuries – one broke both his wrists, the other both his feet – OUCH! Previews were delayed and a new opening date set – Jan 11, 2011.

Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark, according to press notes, “spins a new take on the mythic tale of Peter Parker, a teenager whose unremarkable life in Queens is turned upside-down — literally — when he’s bitten by a genetically-altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to the ceiling. Bullied by his classmates and tortured by an unrelenting crush on next-door-neighbor Mary Jane Watson, this science geek discovers he has suddenly been endowed with astonishing powers. He soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility. Maligned by the media, buffeted by financial woes, and stretched thin by the expectations of the world-at-large, Peter now must struggle to navigate the perilous and peculiar demands of being a web-slinging superhero.”

We all know the story, now we want to see the spectacle. At a reported cost of $60 million dollars it had better be a worthy spectacle as it has an uphill climb and many many years to turn a profit. If anyone, Julie Taymor can pull it off – she certainly managed it with “The Lion King” still running on Broadway after 13 years, and still bringing in the bucks. I cannot believe that it will flop, in this current financial climate nobody would invest in a dog, but then again how could one know once all the creative juices flow and the compromising begins – it is extremely ambitious. Do those comic book nuts ever step foot into a theatre – let alone a musical one?

I am excited, it ain’t Sondheim but it is a musical, and on a grand scale – needed every once in a while.